Driving in France Information
Things you should know before you drive in France
by Celeste Lipford and Terry Lipford - last updated on 6/28/2024
Driving a vehicle in France is not quite the same as it is in the United States. We have collected some information and details that we found useful to know while driving in France. We will start with road signs and then on to other information you will want to have.
NOTE: If you're American or Canadian, your passport and driver's license are all you need to drive in France. Many sites will tell you that you need a notarized French translation of your U.S. Driver's License - however - we have been renting cars in France for over 30 years and we have never been asked for such a thing. Many sites will also tell you that you need an International Driving Permit however, we have never had one and have never been asked for one at any Auto Rental Facility. From what we have read, if you were to be stopped by the French Police for a violation, you could be asked for a notarized French Translation of your driver's license. You must be 18 years old or older to drive in France and your US driver's license must be valid and current.
Please note that the following set of signs are not a complete list of French road signs, these are only the signs that we found to be unique to France and that we had to lookup to understand the meaning.
In basic terms driving in France is similar to driving in the USA; they drive on the right like we do, the French stop signs mostly say "stop" and their driving license requirements are strict enough to where French drivers are reliably stable & predictable. Most of the French traffic and road signs are intuitive, but some are not. For example, what would you think a sign that shows flames coming out of the top of a car might mean? Its definition is "Access prohibited to vehicles transporting explosives and flammable materials" but that might not be your first guess would it?
Right of Way the French Way
In France, the right of way is generally given to traffic coming from the right, a rule known as priorité à droite:
Intersections: You must yield to traffic coming from the right at intersections, unless you are on a priority lane, are entering a roundabout by yielding to the left, or the lane on the right has a stop or give-way sign.
Roundabouts: You must yield to traffic already on the roundabout, which is coming from your left. However, at traditional roundabouts, vehicles entering the roundabout from the right have the right-of-way. Roundabouts with this rule are signposted with a blue circle. At more modern roundabouts, drivers on the roundabout have priority, and are signposted with a red triangle or a sign that says "Vous n'avez pas la priorité".
Priority Lanes: A yellow diamond indicates that you are on a priority lane and do not need to yield to the right. A yellow diamond with a line through it means you no longer have priority.
Other Exceptions: Priorité à droite does not apply on major autoroutes. Cars traveling downhill on narrow routes must yield to those ascending.
Emergency Services Vehicles: always have priority over other road users.
Diamond Lanes: Blue background sign with a white diamond outline indicates that some lanes are reserved for car sharing and other types of vehicles.
Road Types
French Roads are classified into the following categories:
- Axxx: Autoroute Logo Red background with numbers in white. On road signs, autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo.
- Nxxx: National road Red number sign, sometimes referred to as RNxx.
- Dxxx: Departmental road Yellow number sign, sometimes referred to as RDxx or CDxx.
- Exx: E roads are European roads in France. They are part of a network of roads that span Europe.
- There also are municipal (white number sign) and forestry roads (green number sign).
Road Signs
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Stop before entering or crossing the other road and yield (give way) to vehicle on the other roads
You may also see this sign in French stating "Arret" |
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Blue sign with white lettering and a red background "Axx: indicates Autoroute. Toll road if the word "péage" appears.
Most Autoroutes are toll roads, you should bring coins & bills in case your credit cards do not work at the toll booth. Note that this sign is indicating that the A75 Autoroute is an exit to your right. |
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Speed checking ahead - either automatic cameras or handheld devices
They may also utilize radar devices, so you should make sure that your speed is appropriate. NOTE: The French government has announced that speed camera warning signs are to be removed from all roads in France, as part of a range of road safety measures. Not only will the warning signs be removed, but information about the location of fixed radars will no longer be made publically available. |
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Red triangle sign: danger Cattle crossing ahead | ||||||||||||
Blue square sign: information, in this case "Parking lot with meters"
Parking lots are almost always identified by one of these signs |
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Red round sign: parking is forbidden | ||||||||||||
Brown sign: Tourist information | ||||||||||||
Green sign with Nx indicates national highway. White sign with Dx or Cx indicates local roads | ||||||||||||
Directional road signs in France are color coded;
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Toll booth ahead: indicates you should slow down to stop because you’re approaching a toll booth where you’ll need to pay for the
privilege of using the road ahead.
You will need to pay attention to the Toll booth lane signs indicating what types of payments each line will accept, for example, yellow signs mark the leftmost gate as reserved for télépéage only. Télépéage is an RFID based device, similar to systems utilized in the United States, however you will generally not find one on a rental vehicle. |
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French Language Road Signs
The following French phrases are found on various road signs in France, and these phrases also appear on multiple websites. We are unsure of who the author of these phrases may be, we assume that it is the French Government. We are displaying this text in a sincere effort to educate the reader as to phrases that are important for drivers to know of and understand.
The following list contains links to all of our other French Destinations & Information Pages, click any link to go to that page.
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